Brass blogs

8 Feb 2009

I was reading an article the other day, from the Christian Science Monitor, stating that more and more of the 'military brass' were starting to use the technology of blogs to communicate with their troops. According to the article, the concept is that in order to stay connected with their troops and get their thoughts out quickly and to a wider audience, more general officers were taking advantage of such sites as Facebook and creating their own blogs. I've not been able to shake this article and wondered what all this would really mean and if it would work.

Would people really want their commanding officer to have access to their personal Facebook page? Would the idea of spreading their communication by these means really bring the troops closer? Really help bond troops? I've not been able to decide how I feel about this and thought I'd bring it to the spouses for consideration and comment.

What do you think about this? Is use of the internet going to help communication between the 'brass' and the troops? Is a blog or Facebook a better methodology of getting the message to the troops? As I've been thinking about this for a few days, I'll tell you what I think...I think blogs are a better way. They are less personal and you can post at will to get your message out. Troops can comment if they like with at least some anonymity, although I wouldn't count too heavily on that. Hard to imagine too many people being comfortable letting others on their Facebook pages, but I may be wrong here. It would be tough to give up the illusion of privacy.

I think people would read the blogs. In fact, I think it's a great idea for showing a desire to connect with troops via the web and a great use of technology. But what are your thoughts?